The Empire State Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Program provides financial support and incentives to eligible newspaper and broadcast media businesses operating in New York State. The program offers a refundable tax credit with two components: one for creating new jobs and another for retaining existing jobs. The program is in effect annually and expires on December 31, 2027.

To be eligible for the tax credit, an applicant must be a business entity (a partnership, limited liability company, or a corporation) that is an eligible business. An eligible business is a print or broadcast media business that carries media liability insurance continuously for one year before applying for the credit. The business must operate predominantly in an eligible industry and be located in New York State.

Additionally, the business must be independently owned. If it's a print media business, it can also qualify by demonstrating a reduction in circulation or full-time equivalent employees of at least 20% over the previous five years.

For the purpose of this program, each FCC-licensed broadcast station serving a separate geographic market is treated as a separate broadcast media business. Similarly, each distinct print media publication serving a separate market is considered a separate print media business.

The Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Tax Credit has two parts:

• New Job Creation Component: This component provides a credit of $5,000 per net new full-time job created annually. The maximum annual credit under this component is $20,000 for each print or broadcast media business.
• Existing Jobs Component: This component provides a credit equal to 50% of the annual wages of an eligible employee. This credit is calculated on up to $50,000 in annual wages paid per eligible employee.

The total amount of tax credits a business can receive is capped at $300,000 annually for each print or broadcast media business it owns. 

The Department of Economic Development, led by the commissioner, sets the application procedures and timeframe. A business must submit a complete application as prescribed by the commissioner.

As part of the application, an eligible business must:

• Provide evidence of its business eligibility.
• Agree to allow the Department of Taxation and Finance and the Department of Labor to share its tax and employer information with the Department of Economic Development. This information is not subject to the State Freedom of Information Law.
• Allow the department to access any books and records needed to monitor compliance.
• Provide any additional information requested by the department.

Applications are processed on a pro-rata basis. If qualified applications exceed the available annual funding, awards will be prorated, but the reduction will not exceed 50%. If applications exceed twice the annual funding, awards will be prorated up to 50% and processed in the order received, with any remaining applications not receiving funding.

Upon review, if the applicant meets all eligibility criteria, the department will admit them into the program and issue a certificate of tax credit specifying the exact amount of the credit.

Information on the formal application process will be forthcoming with an anticipated opening date in January 2026.

The total amount of tax credits issued annually cannot exceed $30 million. This total is divided between the two credit components:

• New job creation component: up to $4 million per year.
• Existing jobs component: up to $26 million per year.

Within the existing jobs component, the credit is split evenly: 50% is set aside for businesses with 100 or fewer New York-based employees, and the other 50% is for businesses with over 100 New York-based employees.

Please see our draft newspaper and broadcast media jobs tax credit regulations. If you would like to comment on these regulations, please send written email comments to Thomas Regan, Associate Counsel at [email protected] by Monday, December 22 at 5pm.

Regulations

To contact ESD and request information on when the application will be available, please email [email protected].